The corps expéditionnaire français en Scandinavie (French
Expeditionary Force in Scandinavia CEFS) was a Franco-Polish armed force sent
to Norway during the Second World War to combat the German invasion.
The Corps was created under the command of Colonel Bethouart,
on 28 February 1940, in order to assist Finland, which had been attacked by the
(the Soviet-Finnish “Winter War”).
The signing of the Treaty of Moscow on 12 March 1940 ended
the project of intervention. The CEFS was re-activated on March 23, 1940 in
anticipation this time of a German aggression in Norway .
While Germany landed its troops in six coastal areas (Narvik,
Trondheim, Bergen, Kristiansand, Oslo and Egersund) on 8 and 9 April 1940 (Operation
Weserübung), the British navy tried to oppose in the Narvik region where on 10 -
13 April a violent naval battle took place.
The French troops fought the Germans alongside the
Norwegians until June 8, when they re-embarked to fight on French territory.
The French and Polish casualties numbered 350 men.
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